Masters Swimming

Masters swimming has its origins in the mid 1980’s and has been steadily growing ever since. Athletes become senior age group swimmers between the ages 18-24 which enables them to compete at Masters events. At age 25 they become full Masters swimmers and swim/compete in 5 year age bands 25-29, 30-34 etc up to 105 and beyond! The age bands enable competition to be more even and encourages inclusivity.

Cheshire has been a stronghold of Masters swimming since the early days. A number of our clubs have Masters sections within them and there are one or two Masters only clubs. The County is committed to developing Masters swimming, so if any clubs within Cheshire would like to set up a masters section and require help or guidance please contact the County Masters representative at masters@swimcheshire.org

Competitions

Cheshire County Spring Meet

County Masters swimmers compete annually at the Cheshire County Sprint meet which is generally held during the evening of the second Saturday in July. This meet was held at Macclesfield Leisure Centre for many years before finding its new home at Stockport Grand Central pool in 2017

The Sprint Meet has 50m events for Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle as well as 100m, 400m individual medley and 400m freestyle events. There are also relay races for male female and mixed teams. Medals are awarded to the winners of each individual race and for the winners of the relay races. There are County records for each age group and event an award for the Top Club and awards for Top Male and Top Female

National Intercounties Competition

The national inter-counties competition is held in November at several venues throughout the UK. The results are compiled to identify the champion county. Cheshire has been a regular top 5 county for around a decade, winning it outright in 2015, demonstrating the strength and depth within the county.

National Masters Championships

Swimmers throughout the county compete at various meets countrywide that culminate in the National Championships held during the last weekend of October at Ponds Forge pool in Sheffield. Cheshire Masters swimmers hold an enviable number of British, European and World Masters records – further evidence of our strength.